Egyptian security forces have detained nine more members of the country's largest Islamist opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Security officials say local Brotherhood leaders from Greater Cairo and the Nile Delta were detained late Monday.

Egypt Detains 9 Muslim Brotherhood Members

Those detained include Mahmoud Ghozlan, a member of the group's executive Guidance Council.

Egypt Detains 9 Muslim Brotherhood Members

The arrests came hours after opposition lawmakers announced their rejection of constitutional amendments favored by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt Detains 9 Muslim Brotherhood Members

Opposition lawmakers say the amendments are aimed at blocking Islamists from politics.

Egyptians are to vote in a referendum next month on the amendments after they are approved by parliament, which is dominated by the president's party.

The Muslim Brotherhood is officially banned but tolerated in Egypt. Members of the Islamist movement, running as independents, became the largest opposition block in parliament in the 2005 elections, winning about one-fifth of the seats.